Return to Rothezar
by chilibreath
Summary: The Pines family returns to Gravity Falls for the summer of 2013, this time accompanied by Dipper and Mabel's parents. But they're not the only ones coming back... A continuation from Not What It Seems.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** This continues directly after the last chapter of Not What It Seems. There was another part to the story of Maegella, and it took me months to set a cohesive plot to the sequel and a couple of weeks to begin writing again.

For **eregryn-falls** , who talked me into kickstarting the writing flow. :)

 **XXX**

 _June 2013_

Fiddleford McGucket looks a lot better these days after becoming insanely rich. Before he left Gravity Falls with his twin, Stanford Pines had teamed up with a reluctant Tate McGucket and managed to convince Fiddleford to wear new clothes and shoes. It ended with a compromise: Fiddleford wore a shirt under his new overalls and he only wears shoes for "special occasions", like eating out at Greasy's Diner. However, there was nothing friend nor son could do to convince Fiddleford to let go of the patched and frayed brown hat that he snatched from a scarecrow. The cast on his arm was removed, but was promptly replaced with what looked like a red fiberglass replica of the cast.

When he was asked by Soos about this, Fiddleford replied, "My arm felt naked!" Soos nodded in solemn understanding.

Nowadays, his posture is now much straighter, his (horrible, screeching) voice toned down a bit, and he cleaned up nicely after his "wizard's beard" was trimmed to half its length. Some of the townsfolk attributes this to a visit from Wendy and Soos around February. The former employees of the Mystery Shack had returned from a quick "visit" with the Pines family in California, and the day after they returned they headed straight for McGucket's mansion.

Presently, Fiddleford was out at the front of the former Northwest manor. Spry and agile for his age, he hops out from an opening of a huge round metal hull that was propped up with wooden beams on the sides. Next to the fountain and lying on its side was the head and neck of a mythical sea monster. Fiddleford jumped nimbly on the ground and took off his welding helmet.

"Won't be long now, Gobblewonker," he said to the head happily, shutting off his welding torch before putting it on a nearby table. "I'll finish ya before the kids get here next week and we'll go out on the lake and scare the willies out of ev'rybody!"

He starts whistling a happy tune as he saunters back to the manor. Tonight, he's hungry for some grub from Greasy's Diner.

 **XXX**

She crashed on the dusty floor of a dark and forbidding place.

After a moment, Maegella carefully pushed herself up to a sitting position, holding herself steady to let the dizziness pass. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness. She shifted into a kneeling position and held out her left hand, palm-side up.

" _Naur_ ," she whispered, frowning as she concentrated. This was a lot more complicated than wielding a staff, on top of summoning fire.

From the palm of her hand came a burst of blue flame. It illuminated her hand, making the sleeve of her silver robes shimmer in the light. With one hand occupied, she awkwardly pushes herself off the floor. She raises her hand out and turns around, looking at the area she was in. She could make out the rocky formation of the floor, a partition made of metal, and the walls carved from earth. It seemed like she was in a cave of some sort.

It was also familiar to her somehow.

She raised the hand with the flame and looked up. The light wasn't enough to see the ceiling in this place. But if this was the place she thought it was…

" _Koron en' naur!_ "

A ball of blue flame shot out from her hand. It struck the ceiling and briefly illuminated the earth above. Maegella's eyes widened when she saw the corner of an opening. She sent out two more fireballs before she found what she was looking for: a large, jagged opening in the rock, but something seems to be covering it.

She took a deep breath and raised both her hands above her head. " _Faina templa!_ " she yelled.

This time, great bolts of blue energy shot out from both palms and hit the ceiling.

 **BLAM!**

After the debris stopped falling, Maegella grinned as she looked up; she could see the night sky from the hole she made. From the folds of her robes, she took out a small silver disc the size of a tiny teacup saucer and dropped it. The disc stopped falling and hovered inches from the ground. She tapped it with her foot and it began to grow in size until it was roughly the size of a manhole cover. She stepped on the Hover Disc and started flying up toward the hole she made in the ceiling.

When she cleared the opening, she breathed in deeply and turned around. Before her was a familiar dwelling with a triangular roof and a square body made of wood. The last time she was here, the house and grounds were covered with snow. Now, it was warm and dry and green all around.

"I _have_ returned," she whispered, a sense of relief and wonder creeping into her voice. "This is Soos' home!"

Maegella moved away from the large hole in the ground and floated away to where she knew the entrance was. She felt giddy with excitement; she missed the friends she had made from this plane of existence.

She clasped her hands over her mouth at the thought that she would see _him_ again.

She reached the front door and stepped off her Hover Disc. She tucked a strand of dark red hair behind her ear and gently knocked on the door.

After a few moments, she stepped back, frowning. She walked towards one of the windows next to the door and peered inside.

She remembered Soos saying that the front of this house serves as the "gift shop", where people buy trinkets (possibly as gifts to others, Maegella thought then). From the light on the porch, she could see inside the gift shop. There was no one inside.

And then she realized that if Soos, Melody and Abuelita were inside, they would have heard her blow up the cover on the fissure.

"Where did they go?" she wondered, stepping back on the Hover Disc. She floated away from the Shack and up over the treetops. "Perhaps they went on holiday…"

 **XXX**

"Goodnight ev'rybody!" Fiddleford called out as he and Tate stepped out of Greasy's Diner. Strapped to the older man's chest via baby carrier was a large and very well-fed raccoon. Apparently, the Huggy Wuvvy Tummy Bundle also works for Raccoon Wives.

"Welp, time to git on home!" said Fiddleford, leaning down to kiss her furry head. "I'm so glad we could have this git-together and spend time as a family."

"Yep," Tate said in his stoic voice and patted his father's skinny shoulder. Fiddleford smiled; his son wasn't much for conversation. In fact, their reconciliation last year was the most they have talked in years.

Father and son hopped into a brown pickup truck and started driving back to the manor. Fiddleford and Raccoon Wife provided the background noise on the drive back home, mostly chattering from the latter and the former's excitement at receiving visitors at his grand new home in the coming week. They were halfway home when the pickup's headlights lit on a figure standing by the trees. No, they weren't standing; they were walking, but not in a straight line.

Something was wrong.

"Hornswaggle m'goat knees, stop the car Tate!" Fiddleford cried out. "We gotta help 'em!"

Tate immediately parked to the side and before he could turn off the engine, his father had jumped out of the truck and ran towards the woman in silver with Raccoon Wife still strapped to his chest. When he got closer, he slowed down as he heard the stranger speak.

"Stop…please, stop… _Mani uma lle merna?_ " she whimpered.

She wore what looked like a long silver gown, with a rip on the right sleeve and stains on the same side. Her dark red hair was wild and sticking up in places and partially covered in leaves. Fiddleford immediately felt sorry for this woman. He remembered living in the dump when his mind was ruined by the Memory Gun, and the kindness that went his way were few and precious to him.

"Pardon me, miss, but are ya in need of some assistance?" Fiddleford asked softly, but it was enough to startle the woman. She turned swiftly to face him, and Fiddleford mustered a kind smile in an attempt to calm her down, poor thing. Her gray eyes were huge with fright on an oval face and her lower lip was trembling. There was even a smudge of dirt on her straight nose.

The woman looked from his face to a point on his chest. Fiddleford looked down. "Oh, don't mind 'er, miss," he chuckled. "She's well-fed and content, she won't harm ya none. She ain't the jealous type!" When she didn't respond, he added, "Ya look like yer in need of some assistance. It ain't safe out here at this time o' the night."

She opened and closed her mouth, somewhat at a loss for words, before she managed to say, "I—I am lost. I was l-looking for my friends and I—I fell and got lost."

She looked up at a point on Fiddleford's right; Tate had stepped forward, looking between the strangely-dressed woman and his father. The senior McGucket looked at her in concern before stepping forward cautiously.

"Tell ya what? We're gonna take ya with us and getcha cleaned up. Ya can sleep at our place an' tomorrow, we're gonna help ya find these friends o' yers. Ya can tell us on the way back home," he offered. "And I ain't takin' no fer an answer! As ya can see here, these woods ain't safe this time o' the night."

Behind Fiddleford, Tate nodded in agreement. Though he wasn't fond of strangers, even he wouldn't want to leave the woman out here in the middle of the night. The woman blinked.

"You would do that for me?" she asked in surprise. When both men started nodding (including the raccoon), she gave them a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered.

She accepted Fiddleford's outstretched hand (which was covered in some strange glove) and limped slowly back to the pickup truck.

"The name's Fiddleford, by the way," he said cheerfully. "Fiddleford McGucket! And this here is m'son, Tate!"

She nodded at the two of them and said, "My name is Maegella."


	2. STAN BROS

_Port of Brookings, Oregon – two days later, Monday_

Soos stood at the waiting area, holding up a sign saying "STAN BROS". He'd been holding up the sign since he arrived at the Port over thirty minutes ago. His arms were aching something fierce, but he didn't mind. He had to be visible so that the two Mr. Pineses could see him. The large man was practically bouncing with excitement.

The Pines family is returning to Gravity Falls. The summer of 2013 will be AWESOME.

At the moment, only ten people in Gravity Falls know that the two pairs of Pines twins will be spending the summer here. From the Mystery Shack were Soos, Melody and Abuelita. Abuelita had been cleaning the Mystery Shack with the help of Candy Chiu and Grenda Grendinator (Grenda had been a big help in lifting the furniture high enough for the floor under it to be vacuumed) and Melody and Pacifica set to work making banners and blowing up balloons. At the former Northwest Manor, Fiddleford and Tate had prepared the guest rooms for the family. Meanwhile, Wendy went trekking into the forest to prepare its citizens of the family's arrival.

The tenth person arrived two days ago. This person was another reason why Soos was so excited.

And then he starts bouncing again with more rigor, because he spotted two familiar faces making their way toward him.

"Welcome back, Mister Pineses!" Soos called out as he drops his sign to engulf the two men into a spine-cracking hug.

"Thanks for taking the crick out of my back Soos," Stan said appreciatively after being placed back on the ground. The younger man just grins at him and picks up their duffel bags. "Haven't been able to get rid of it since we last made port."

"How's things going on, dudes?" Soos asks amiably as he leads the way to the pick-up truck. "Did you find more mysteries out in the ocean?"

Soos didn't see his former employer-slash-father figure elbow his brother in the ribs.

"Oof! Oh! Yes, we came across some interesting places after we dropped you off here last time," Ford shared while he rubbed the area where Stan elbowed him. "Let's see: we went to Easter Island for some time off…"

"Turns out all those big-headed statues were kinda alive, and we decided to drop by on the _ONE_ day of the year where they decide to pop outta the ground for a swim," Stan cut in. They had reached the pick-up truck, where Soos placed their duffel bags in the cab of the truck. Stan immediately calls shotgun while Ford rolls his eyes and takes the seat at the back. Ford waited until Soos hopped into the driver's seat and fired up the truck before continuing the story.

"First of all, they're called Moai, Stanley. Secondly…well, you're right about the swimming. I don't understand how the locals slept through all that racket. But I figured the Moai didn't mind when they saw us camping in their meeting spot."

"I'm just glad they didn't trample us on the way to the beach," Stan snorted. "But their beach party sent the _Stan O'War_ out into the middle of the ocean…"

"Now, now: Paro apologized to us about it and pulled the boat back for us," Ford added.

"Like a dude from Egypt?" Soos asked.

"Paro, not Pharoah, Soos. He's the biggest of the Moai statues—er—giants," Ford explained. "And he unmoored the _Stan O'War_ when he cannonballed into the ocean."

"I _still_ can't believe no one woke up from that but us!" Stan muttered. "The best one was where we became twenty years old again for a day."

"Stan, it was a trap," Ford said in exasperation.

"No way!" Soos breathed out, taking his eyes off the road to look agog at Stan.

"Soos, keep your eyes on the road!" Ford yelped.

"Whoops! Hehehe, got distracted there for a moment," Soos said nervously as he looked back on the road. "Where'd you two go to get de-oldified?"

"Well, after the Easter Island incident, we decided to head south to check something out in Mexico," Ford began to share. "Before we passed Ecuador, we came upon this island that wasn't on any map and decided to investigate. We docked and explored the beach for a while until we found a trail that led to this cove. In the middle was this small, rocky fountain with writing carved into a slab beside it that said, 'Drink this elixir of life and regain the years passed by.' Next thing I knew, Stan dunked his head into the water and started drinking from it."

"Hey, that's what you do when _you_ find something interesting and get science-crazy," Stan defended himself. "And the sign was right! Soos, ya should've seen Ford's face when he saw me de-oldifying before his eyes!"

"Like watching a raisin turn back into a grape," Ford snorted. "After deciding that Stan wasn't suffering from any ill effects, I took a drink myself and de-aged just like Stan."

"And then there was a party on the beach!" Stan yelled happily. "Babes and barbeque!"

"Surprisingly, a lot of young people right after we drank that water," Ford said quietly.

"Hey, don't you deny you were enjoying yourself out there that night!"

"Probably would have stayed longer if we hadn't woken up back to our normal age with a raging hangover," Ford reminded him. "And have you forgotten what we found when we went back to the fountain?"

Stan made a face. " _Older_ people!"

"There were other people on the island?" Soos asked, perplexed.

Ford snorted. "They were the same partygoers we met the previous night. Turns out they've been living on the island for decades. The elixir only lasts for twelve hours, and they return to the fountain to rejuvenate the following day. They invited us to stay forever, but…"

"That meant we couldn't see the kids again," Stan muttered. "Yeah, it _was_ a trap. They went nuts when we said no and formed an angry mob."

"Fortunately, only two of them had managed to drink the elixir. Stan knocked those two guys out, and we reached the boat before the rest of them could hobble out of the cove," Ford finished, trying to repress a grin.

Soos shook his head. "I gotta admit, this is very different from my fanfic of you two. I gotta do some rewrites…"

"I feel a li'l conflicted knocking out two guys who may be a hundred each," Stan chuckled. "But not too much! And let's not forget the humongous owl who thought you were her baby!"

"Stan, please don't…" Ford begged.

"Hey, rescuing you from her perch was the reason I nearly threw my back!" Stan shot back before he started his tale.

Ford just shook his head as he let Stan tell this story. He leaned back on the seat and pulled the neck of his sweater to extract a polished, dark blue stone attached to a necklace. The blue stone was etched with gold symbol that looked like an X fused with a rectangle, with a sort of key-shape protruding from the middle of the X. Ford recently discovered that this was the old Behenian symbol for _Deneb Algedi_ , or "the tail of the goat", referring to the fish-tail of the celestial sea-goat Capricorn. And just like its fellow sigil, this symbol is shown differently from its Earth counterpart on another dimension, standing on its "tail" with the X raised to the sky.

He rubs the stone with his thumb and tucks it back under his sweater.

 _(Former) Northwest Manor_

Inside a bathroom, Maegella looks at herself in the large oval mirror as she combs her hair. The bags under her eyes were darker since she arrived in this plane of existence. She was unable to recall when she last had a good night's sleep.

She was delighted when she was reunited with Soos and Wendy the day after she arrived. It seems that her new acquaintance knew the people she was looking for. Between the McGuckets and these young people, it was decided to keep her presence a secret, to surprise the Pines family when they arrive at the mansion.

Maegella agreed.

On the sink in front of her are a pair of scissors she managed to find somewhere. There is also a tattered picture of a blonde girl with a supremely confident look about her that she found in her bedroom. Maegella looks at the girl's hair before facing the mirror and using the comb to part the hair she is planning to cut.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Oh my goodness, what a dry spell for writing! I got stuck after writing a few paragraphs, but thanks to an awesome fanart and a little bit of brainstorming and I manage to churn this out!

The adventures that Ford and Stan shared here was inspired from **fordblogs** , a great RP Tumblr account, a post from the famous **moringmak** , and a headcanon from **thesnadger**.

Here's to hoping I don't wait months before churning out Chapter 3!


End file.
